the new leaders at the bank of japan started their work to get the government out of depolice station. they are sure they can achieve a target of 2%. hackers may have attacked. a virus shut down 30,000 computer terminals and servers. a decade after the start of the

w war, oil production is up. welcome to nhk "newsline," the new governor of the bank of japan took office on thursday. he said that the boj will focus all it's efforts on achieving the 2% inflation target. i will pursue bold monetary easing. three these efforts, the 2% inflation target should be achieved. i'm convinced it's an achievable target. >> he said boj policy board members will decide on what sort of assets to buy in upcoming

meet meetings. he was asked about concerns that it may be scene as fiscal deficits. he denied that saying buying government bonds from the market is one of the central bank's monetary measures. japanese business leaders are hoping he will take bold measures to reenergize the sluggish economy. >> translator: our business has been so tough over the past 20 years due to prolonged deflation. consumers are reluctant to spend money when prices keep falling from one day to the next. i hope the boj will work closely with the government and take bold monetary easing steps to bring deflation to an end as soon as possible. >> translator: we have high expectations for the boj under kurodo's leadership.

kurodo and his deputies have abundant experience both at home and abroad. they will make a great team to guide the economy. we spoke to bill devinny. >> kuroda was actually quite clear that he wants to expand asset purchases, he wants to buy longer dated bonds and also to increase the scale of asset purchases. and we think he is going to be quite aggressive in pursuing these additional measures. we expect, for example, an increase in bond buying of 16 trillion yen at the next meeting of the bank of japan. we also expect eventually the bank of japan to buy more riskier assets such as equities and corporate bonds and kuroda

did elude to this in his press conference. he has also made very clear of the importance of having an impact on market expectations. so we think he will be very keen to show his ability to do this early on. the widely held view is that it will be quite difficult to achieve the 2% inflation target. we think kuroda will surely be -- he will want to use all the tools at his disposal to achieve this. barclays, we look for the yen to weaken to 103 against the dollar over the next month and we expect it to stay at this quite weak level for much of the year ahead. we think the difficulty in achieving the 2% inflation target will actually likely lead to even larger scale bond buying later in the year. and we think this should keep the yen weakened and the stock market well supported. market participants will be closely watching to see what will actually come out of the

next boj meeting. kuroda declined to comment on whether he would call an emergency meeting before a regular policy board meeting scheduled for early next month. here are the latest market figures.

south korean government investigators are tracing the destructive trail left behind by a computer virus. they say the cyber attack on wednesday appears to have come from a single organization, and they say it activated in many places simultaneously like a time bomb. >> we have determined that the attacks were carried out by the same organization. we're still tracing the origin of the attack. >> the task force dealing with the incident has confirmed that a computer virus was set from an internet address in china. it made it's way into the network servers at the affected organizations. the simultaneous glitch occurred on wednesday afternoon at public broadcaster kbs and two other tv stations as well as three major banks. it affected more than 32,000 computers and servers.

represe representatives say it didn't have any effect on their broadcasting services. ann list probed the hard drives, and a screen full of numbers appeared on monitors. it was a message warning of further attacks. they have denied any involvement in the attack. hackers often use addresses in other countries to hide their identities. he says china's position on cyber attacks is that protection of internet security is a common challenge facing the community. hackers hit in 2011 and a north korean government determined that whooi in a was behind both cases. there was a bomb attack on thursday at a camp for refugees.

it exploded in an area bordering afghanistan. it's a known stronghold for islamic insurgent groups. it went off as hundreds were due to receive rations this the camp on the outskirts of pashower. more than 12 people were killed or wounded. >> i was near the food distribution point in the camp when suddenly there was a big explosion. i don't know what happened. >> camp residents have already been effected by violence. most were displaced. they -- it came just days after

they completed their full five year term. a general election is scheduled for may 11th. bangladesh is beginning three days of morning after their president died. even though the presidency is largely ceremonial, they were looking to him to break a violent political stand off that has defined the country. raman's body arrived back on thursday afternoon. the prime minister received it at the capital's international airport. >> he entered politics before they entered war. he was elected president in 2009 after serving as a senior

official for many years. he was flown to the hospital in singapore with respiratory problems. bangladeshi lawmakers will elect his successor. >> march 11th was the tenth anniversary of the iraq war. terrorist attacks have hampered efforts to rebuild the country. still, iraqi leaders think oil production will pave the way for prosperity. they're investigating more in the region to meet growing energy around the world. sho beppu reports.

>> reporter: the ground beneath the deserts of southern iraq holds some of the world's largest untapped oil deposits. foreign sanctions left the oil in a state of disrepair. but multinational corporations have returned to start new oil production. this is the oil field in southern iraq. i'm standing here, 14 meters high construction site of oil tank. this is where the extracted crude oil will be put temporarily before being put into the pipeline. this oil field is being developed by a joint venture from asia. a malaysian state-run company owns 60% of the stake. while an investment firm backed by japanese government owns the remaining 40%. about 2,400 people work here around the clock. engineers from pakistan and bangladesh work with colleagues from malaysia, japan and iraq.

>> japanese count. all right. eight count, please. all right. >> reporter: every morning, workers exercise before heading to the construction site. it's an idea implemented by the japanese employees to foster a sense of community among workers with different languages and cultures. this worker from japan oversees the on site work flow. he instructs the workers and safety supervisors. they speak to each other in english. but all have different accents. communication often takes time. >> what? >> protection. >> protection? >> projection? projection? >> translator: one of my

priorities is to make sure no one is hurt here. safety is very important for us. >> reporter: officials from the joint venture have also started on site vocational training. instructors teach six subjects, including english and i.t. skills. so far, 340 people have participated. some have started working at the site. >> translator: i want to study english so i can deal with foreign companies. they are coming back to our country and they are beneficial to us. >> reporter: the efforts of the workforce could help provide a stable energy supply for asia and the rest of the world.

>> reporter: people in iraq hope the increase in oil production will help rebuild their country and their lives. both iraq's leaders and the multinational corporations will need to make sure that the development benefits the majority. sho beppu, nhk world, in southern iraq. a report released last year by the international energy agency says that by 2030, the country may surpass russia to become the world's second largest oil producer after saudi arabia. >> emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty. citizens looking for peace. get news and insight every

weekday live from bangkok on nhk "newsline". members of the united nations security council are, once again, divided over the issue of syria. they're trying to find out the truth about the latest reports coming from the country. government and opposition forces accuse each other of using chemical weapons. president bashar al assad's administration said rebels fired a missile containing a chemical substance at the northern city of aleppo. opposition fighters tell a different story. they say government forces carried out two chemical attacks one in aleppo and one in damascus. syria's u.s. ambassador bashar jaafari says his government has asked the u.s. secretary-general to launch an independent probe. the security council held a closed door session on wednesday. after the meeting, russia's representative expressed support for the syrian government. >> i do hope that the secretary-general is going to act on that invitation expeditiously.

>> britain's envoy is backing the opposition. >> but it is the syrian regime which has stockpiles of chemical weapons and materials in syria. >> deputy ambassador parham says a number of council members will ask the secretary-general for a probe that also considers the opposition's claims. u.s. president barack obama wants to know exactly what happened in syria. he calls the use of chemical weapons a game-changer. >> i've instructed my teams to work closely with all other countries in the region and international organizations and institutions to find out precisely whether or not this red line was crossed. >> obama expressed doubt the rebels carried out this kind of attack. he says the international community must act should it be determined chemical weapons were used. a former army officer has

been charged with passing national defense secrets to his chinese girlfriend. prosecutors say benjamin pierce bishop gave classified information to a chinese woman between may of 2011 and december of last year. they say the leaked information concerned planned appointments of strategic nuclear weapons. u.s. ballistic missile capabilities and early radar warning systems in the pacific rim. they say pitch shop met her at an international conference on defense issues in hawaii. he was required to report the relationship, and he did not. if convicted, he could face 20 years in prison.

more and more people around the world are learning about the potential of something they can't see, touch, or even understand. scientists are working with endeu endeuced ips cells to one day grow organs an tissues. it is not just giving people new hope, it's helping with the development of new drugs. >> cells under a microscope. these are artificially made cardiomyocytes or heart muscle cells they can grow into any cell on the body also called versatile cells. ips cells were first made from cells taken from human skin and culturing them. when these cells were created,

culture fluid played an important role. this professor at the university produced this fluid. in 2003, reprocell a firm led by professor nakajuchi did the research. the company became the first in the world to produce a particular type of cell from an ips cell, they were cardiomyocytes. the heart muscle cells are known in a culture the company developed. it takes about two weeks. fluid contains protein and nutrients like genes, it directs ips cells to become cells. >> translator: development of culture fluid is the key process in the development of cells. >> when new drugs are developed,

the heart cells are used to test their toxicity. a drug under development is added to the cardiomyocytes. the muscle stops. this shows the drug's harmful effect on the heart. by using ips cells the effects of new drugs on the heart can be investigated without using animals. as drugs are developed, their effects on the liver need to be examined because one function of the organ is to metabolize drugs. in the past, this test was carried out on the livers of dead people. last may, the company first marketed liver cells made by ips cells. each of the plates contains liver cells. a drug under development is added, and a few days later changes in its character are

measured. red shows the change of drug in the liver. researchers carry out extensive tests with varying levels of the drug. liver cells derived from ips cells allow large-scale tests at equal quality. as new drugs are developed from ips cells, hopes are high for progress with alzheimer's. two neurons are said to be important to finding the cure to the disease. by implanting the genes that cause alzheimer's into ips cells, the company was able to mass produce one of the neurons last year. and with good prospects for production, they say that the other neuron will be commercialized soon. when the two neurons become ready for use, the study of alzheimer's cures may see rapid

progress. >> translator: until now, there's been no model to search for sure. we've made a ground breaking cure to develop new drugs. >> there's a possibility that ips cell will significantly change the state of new development. that's good news for people suffering from various diseases. fatal hailstorms have pelted china's inland and other areas. the unstable atmospheric conditions with roof-stripped winds hail battered the area. and hail damaged houses and cars. three people dayed in the wind and hail that damages homes and cars. one city had heavy rain

accompanied by 170 kilometer per hour winds. hail hit some areas for over ten minutes. they say is shattered windows and tore off roofing. robert speta has more on the weather. >> yes, that storm system you were talking about there, really wild stuff going on here. yesterday, this is what the satellite picture looked like. in hong kong, it was partly cloudy skies. really, this was the end result of these classic spring storms. that cold air coming in to the north, that cold air under running it, and that was felt actually at the airport here. you saw a report of the temperature going from 24 to 20

degrees in an hour. throughout the overnight hours, and into friday, still a risk here. meanwhile, farther towards the north, we're watching a frontal area. that can be bringing 50 to 100 millimeters as well. the good news here is it's not going to be as unstable as farther south. you don't have as much of that moisture here. and then into the philippines, we have been watching a tropical depression here. this is starting to trigger off the beginning of the southwest hon soon here. it's bringing all sorts of moisture here. all of that moisture continues to push on tour, especially in the mountainous terrain. farther off towards the north, high pressure is dominating much of japan and korea at this time. you will see a mix of rain and

snow, and a system down towards the south. so unfortunately, anybody who wants to go out and enjoy the cherry blossoms, it will be cloudy skies and rain showers. it will be partly cloudy skies for most of the day on saturday. something to look forward to. let's look towards the americas. talking about spring there in eastern asia. over there it is snowfall, very late season. we have a storm pushing off the mid-atlantic coast. at times and portions of dc and new york, you're seeing one centimeter. definitely a new sauisance. about five to ten centimeters here. that wind is pushing across those waters downwind of ontario, eerie, that will be

adding up. coming towards the central planes. this will be a snowmaker. then, things are going to change up, as that continues to push closer and closer to the gulf coast, and also for the southern portions, this will flare up enough in stability to bring storms. that contrast, chicago, just at zero, winnipeg at minus 9. seeing snowfall and higher elevations there, you could be seeing about 60 centimeters at snow. here is the extended forecast.

we're back in 30 minutes

with more of the latest. .